Love, Linda
Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter
Book by Stevie Holland, with Gary William Friedman
Arrangements and Additional Music by Gary William Friedman
Directed by Ken Page
Max & Louie Productions
January 19. 2019

The latest show from Max & Louie Productions is essentially a showcase for its leading performer. Debby Lennon, who has memorably appeared in previous shows from the company, is cast as the wife of legendary songwriter Cole Porter in a slight but entertaining production that especially highlights Lennon’s always impressive vocal talents and stage presence.

This is really more of a narrated concert than a play, co-written by a jazz singer and the show’s original performer. This is a show that, basically, gives a talented singer a chance to shine, showcasing the classic hits of one of Broadway’s most legendary songwriters. Lennon portrays Linda Lee Thomas, who was married to Porter for 34 years. She tells the story of her life before she met Porter, including her marriage to her abusive first husband, but the bulk of the production focuses on her complicated relationship with her second husband, Porter. Their love and mutual dependence on one another–in different ways–is made clear, as is the truth that Linda married him in full knowledge that he was gay. In between songs, Lennon tells vivid stories of her life with Porter in Paris in the 1920s, and then in New York, and eventually, Hollywood, as she outlines Porter’s rise to fame, their celebrity connections, and Porter’s many relationships with men and her struggles with jealousy. It’s an interesting story, compellingly portrayed by Lennon, but it’s all essentially a framework for the songs, which are the show’s–and Lennon’s–strength. Many well-known and lesser-known Porter songs are featured, allowing Lennon to show off a different style of vocals than usual. Her past efforts for Max & Louie have tended to more operatic sounds, but here Lennon is able to display an impressive aptitude for old-school jazz and pop standards. She especially excels in the more upbeat songs, like “Miss Otis Regrets” and “I Love Paris”, as well as displaying an impressive range on numbers like “Wunderbar” and “So In Love”. It’s an impressive vocal performance, and acting-wise, Lennon does about as much with the material as I could imagine anyone could. She’s a strong presence on the stage.

Aside from Lennon, the other real “stars” of this show are the technical designers. This is a great looking show, from Dansi Dai’s simple but lavish set that stages the performance on a giant, well-appointed piano. The storytelling is also augmented greatly through the use of Michael Perkins’s excellent projections, that illustrate Linda’s story from the beginning–with photos of the real Linda–to the end. Costume designer Teresa Doggett has outfitted Lennon in some elegant, well-suited ensembles as well. There’s also excellent atmospheric lighting by Patrick Huber and sound by Phillip Evans. Lennon is also backed by an excellent band led by music director Greg Schweitzer.

The story that Lennon, as Linda, tells here is a potentially fascinating one, and there could be a more thorough treatment than this one. Still, as it is, Love, Linda is an entertaining show, especially when it comes to the production values and, especially, the music. It gives its talented star an excellent outlet for displaying her impressive vocal skills, highlights the repertoire of a Broadway legend, and provides a look at the complex, sometimes difficult, sometimes poignant life of the woman who married that legend. It’s great music well-sung, and with style.

Debby LennonPhoto by Dunsi DaiMax & Louie Productions

Max & Louie Productions is presenting Love, Linda at the Marcelle Theatre until January 27, 2019

There’s a whole lot of “Faust” happening in St. Louis this year. The collaborative FAUSTival is continuing this month, and now it’s SATE’s turn to offer their own approach to this legendary tale. This is the fourth entry in the series, and if you thought you might start feeling a little bit of “Faust” fatigue by this point, there’s no need to worry, as SATE’s take on the oft-told tale is bold, fresh, challenging, and thoroughly compelling.

With this production, playwright John Wolbers takes Christopher (Kit) Marlowe’s version of the story and significantly tweaks it to give it a modern spin. The title character is now a woman (Ashley Baumann), and although the play is still in verse and uses Early Modern English and Elizabethan-inspired costumes for the most part, the setting is modern, with present-day cultural references included, and modern issues–or actually, age-old issues in the context of how they have manifested in modern times. The story emphasizes the temptation of Faustus and her relationships with those close to her, especially her college boyfriend Wagner (Michael Pierce) and roommate Val (Lex Ronan), as well as her business role model and mentor Carol Hapsburg (Taleesha Caturah). There’s also the various incarnations of Mephistophilis, the demon who is supposed to serve her after she makes a pact with the devil. Mephistophilis is played in turn by almost all of the remaining cast members in the show, with the exception of Nicole Angeli, who plays “The Seven”, a personification of the Seven Deadly Sins, which play a major role in Faustus’s journey of temptation and ascent to power. The play incisively deals with important issues such as the struggles for equality of women in academia and business, as well as sexual harassment, the corruption of power, and more.

Although it takes a few minutes to really get going, it soon becomes a riveting drama, with impressive performances all around. Bauman’s Faustus goes on a credible emotional journey, and her initial idealism and growing sense of ambition are well portrayed. There’s strong chemistry between her and Pierce as the devoted but eventually disillusioned Wagner and also with Ronan as her close friend, the also idealistic and magically curious Val. Ronan is also strong in her role as legendary mythological Helen of Troy and one of the incarnations of Mephistophilis. There’s also a strong performances from Caturah in three roles, including the original version of the crafty Mephistophilis, as well as the authoritavie Hapsburg and, in a memorable scene, as an elderly lady who makes an impression on Faustus. Joe Hanrahan, as a smarmy college professor and the second Mephistophilus, and Erik Kuhn and Kareem Deanes in multiple roles are also excellent. Special mention needs to go to Angeli, who deftly shifts back and forth between seven distinct personalities as The Seven. It’s a dynamic, impressive, chilling, and thoroughly memorable performance that stands out in an already excellent ensemble.

The technical aspects of this show don’t fail to impress, either. Bess Moynihan’s set is distinctive, as a series of seven columns–decorated to represent the Deadly Sins–serve as an effective backdrop for the action. The lighting design by Dominick Ehling coordinates well with the set and with the acting in a clever way that I won’t spoil here, but will make itself apparent as the story plays out. There’s also excellent use of sound, designed by Kareem Deanes, and vividly realized modern-Elizabethan fusion-style costumes by Liz Henning.

This is a Doctor Faustus for the ages, both ancient and modern, employing some modern sensibilities to communicate timeless truths about the human condition, ambition, and temptation as well as the importance of empathy and compassion. It’s another excellent FAUSTival presentation, serving also in various ways to point out the common themes the various productions have had, beyond the fact that they’re all about Faust in their own unique ways. In this production, SATE continues to challenge, impress, and provoke much thought. It’s another strong production from this excellent company.

Cast of Doctor FaustusPhoto by Anne GenoveseSATE Ensemble Theatre

SATE Ensemble Theatre is presenting Doctor Faustus, or The Modern Prometheus at The Chapel until November 17, 2018

The St. Lou Fringe festival has come to Grand Center again, featuring two headline acts–one national and one local–and a variety of performances by an array of different local and national artists. It’s a celebration of the performing arts at their most quirky and inventive–or, at least, it’s supposed to be. I didn’t get to see as many shows this year as I would have liked, but what I did see was something of a mixed bag in terms of quality, ranging from top-notch shows, to shows that need work. Here are my reviews:

The Gringo (Local Headliner)

Music, Lyrics, and Book by Colin Healy

Directed by Colin Healy

Cast of The GringoPhoto by Bob CroweSt. Lou Fringe

The first show I saw at this year’s Fringe is a show that embodies a lot of the qualities that I have come to expect in a Fringe show–challeging, thought-provoking, timely, and inventive. It’s not a perfect show, but there’s definitely promise there, and the music and cast are excellent. Written entirely by local artist Colin Healy but taking place in Miami, the show is certainly distinctive, even though the sound balance and odd acoustics in the .Zack made it difficult to understand at least half of the lyrics. Still, there’s a story here, and some great characters, even if there are too many and some of their situations and relationships are difficult to figure out.

The Gringo is also somewhat of a baffling title, since it references a character who isn’t (and shouldn’t be) the focus of the show, and whose role in the show is confusing to say the least. Ishmael (Riley Dunn), who is white, is a wandering street artist whose wanderings have taken him to a mostly non-white neighborhood in Miami. I sort of get the initial focus on him in terms of portraying how often artists of color are ignored in favor of white artists trying to be “edgy” and getting celebrated as such, but still, the real focus of the show is (and should be) Kahlo (Alcia Reve Like), a famous artist who laments being treated as a curiosity at best by white tourists. The story takes place in the aftermath of the killing of local artist El Fantasma by police, and it follows the reactions of various people who were close to him, such as his brother Diego (Gheremi Clay), who is something of a “friends with benefits” type relationship with Kahlo, although Kahlo, along with Ishmael, decide to navigate the unpredictable world of online dating, which is how the two artists meet and form a tentative relationship, which further alienates Diego, who is wary of Ishmael but also gives him his nickname, “The Gringo”. As white “internet celebrities” such as @Sally7777777 (Janine Norman) discover Ishmael’s work and plaster it all over Instagram in a self-congratulatory “look what I discovered” sort of way, the rest of the neighborhood prepares to memoralize El Fantasma, Diego searches for answers and validation, and the somewhat mysterious Manni (Robert Crenshaw) occasionally appears expressing his animosity for The Gringo. There’s also popular drug dealer Molto (Omega Jones) and Kahlo’s friend Reya (Evann De-Bose), who have a tragic subplot of their own. The characters’ relationships and motivations are muddled, to say the least, and there are simply too many plots to follow coherently. I think keeping the main focus on Kahlo’s and Diego’s situations would make the most sense, and while Ishmael has his moments, he seems mostly irrelevant by the time the story draws to a close.

There are some great performances here, especially from Like, Clay, Jones, and Norman, and the songs are clever and memorable, at least from what I could hear of them. The look of the show is striking, with an eye-catching set (designer not credited in the program), art by Tielere Cheatem, and distinctive costumes by Carly Uding. The band conducted by Healy is excellent as well, as is the energetic choreography by Christopher Page-Sanders. The sound mix is uneven, though, and the story is incomprehensible at times because the lyrics of the songs were often drowned out by the band. This is a show with definite promise, if Healy could streamline it some and make a clearer focus on the more compelling characters and define the relationships and character motives more clearly. Overall, it’s an impressive debut, even though it still needs some work.

Race Cars and Romance (National Headliner)

Book by Klay Rogers, Music by Brent Rogers, Lyrics by Klay Rogers and Brent Rogers

Directed and Choreographed by Brandon Bieber

Even though it’s not a perfect show, The Gringo has a lot of potential and fares much better than Fringe’s national headline act, Race Cars and Romance, which is, frankly stated, a mess. Staged with much fanfare at the Grandel, this show just leaves me asking “why?’ on so many levels. Billed as a “family friendly musical”, it’s basically just a big collection of stereotypes, shallow characters, poor plot structuring, and a plot that’s so episodic it almost comes across as more of an anthology than a play–and not a very good anthology at that. I will say to start, though, that the performance I saw was a preview, and I hope the overall energy improved in the subsequent performances, but in terms of characters and structure, I don’t see how seeing one of the “official” performances would have mattered.

The focus is on an oil change shop in a small Alabama town, in which a collection of characters work, including new “star” mechanic Roni (Emily Trumble), who grew up in the town but spent some time working on the racing team of star stock car racer Chuck Champion, who is talked about a lot but never actually appears on stage. Another stock car racer and childhood friend of Roni’s, the clueless and somewhat vain Johnny Ray Ratchet (Ralph Meitzler), has been struggling on the racing circuit and is due to race at Talladega starting in last position, and needs his car fixed in preparation for the race. He brings it to the oil change, meets Roni, and… well, that’s all for a really long time while the play takes a break from their story to tell a lot of other stories that are only peripherally related to the main plot. It’s odd how much this plot is treated like an afterthought even though it’s supposed to be the lead story, as all the other characters are given their moments but not in a way that contributes much to the main story arc. We just get a lot of cliches and stereotypes, with some interesting characters but mostly a lot of filler, and excuses for songs that don’t advance the plot. There are some good performances here, especially from the big-voiced Trumble as Roni and Rachel Bailey as Roni’s friend, the romantically adventurous Louraine, who has a sweet but somewhat confusing romance with sweet-natured mechanic Pedro (Fredy Ruiz). Meitzler is fine as Johnny Ray, even though his character doesn’t have much to do beyond bragging about his racing prowess and inexplicably changing his mind a lot. The chemistry between the two leads is OK but not great, and there are some interesting songs but only one that really stands out–the plaintive duet “Lonely Lovers Game” for Johnny Ray and Roni, but the song is in the wrong place in the show, and it doesn’t do much to save the convoluted, implausible romance that doesn’t make a lot of sense in the long run. The cast does the best they can with what they are given, but they aren’t given much.

Techically, the show looks good, with a colorful set and costumes (production design credit is given to Klay Rogers). Still, as it is this is little more than a theme park show, and I’ve seen better shows at theme parks. Creator Klay Rogers gave an introduction before the performance explaining that a lot of the stories here are based on a real job he had at an oil change shop in Texas, but there are too many stories here and for the most part, this doesn’t work as one show. Maybe it would be better if he split the stories up into several different shows.

As a writer who sees myself as a fan more than as a critic, I try my best to be kind even when I don’t like a show, but I find that difficult with a show like this. The cast deserves credit for the effort, but the show itself has little to recommend. I really hope Fringe picks something better to take center stage next year.

Now Playing Third Base For the St. Louis Cardinals… BOND, JAMES BOND

by Joe Hanrahan

Directed by Shane Signorino

The Midnight Company

From the always intriguing Joe Hanrahan comes a delightful show that’s part personal memoir, part history lesson, part nostalgia, and all fascinating. It’s a cleverly constructed one-man show from St. Louis’s king of one-man shows, Hanrahan, who narrates and plays all the characters as needed. It’s a lesson in theatre appreciation as well, along with baseball appreciation and an appreciation for the 1960s-era James Bond films, particularly From Russia With Love.

Telling the story as himself, Hanrahan takes the audience back to his childhood in St. Louis during the storied 1964 World Series-winning season for the St. Louis Cardinals. He weaves the story of that team with reminiscences of his little league practices and what he refers to as his introduction to theatre–a recounting of the plot of the “new” James Bond movie by one of his teammates, Danny. As Hanrahan, playing Danny, tells the story of the movie, Hanrahan as himself gives the audience background information about the film and also stories about that famous Cardinals team, St. Louis in the 1960s as well as the history of theatre, World War II and more. It’s a somewhat difficult show to describe adequately, but what it is is excellent. Hanrahan through use of his great storytelling skills and impressive use of video designed by Michael B. Perkins, holds the audience spellbound for about an hour. It’s a great show, and I hope Hanrahan will get a chance to perform it again in another venue. It’s entertaining, educational, thought-provoking, and an ideal example of the best of what the Fringe can be, along with the last show I’m reviewing.

Aphrodite’s Refugees

Created by Monica Dionysiou, Visual Art by Aaron Young

MonTra Performance

Monica DionysiouPhoto by Bob CroweSt. Lou Fringe

I was looking forward to seeing this show, after seeing and enjoying Dionysiou’s last show at St. Lou Fringe in 2015, the Alice In Wonderland inspired “Paper Glass”. Here, like in that previous show, Dionysiou combines dramatic performance with visual art, but now her story is more personal, taken from her own family’s story, and she’s joined by Aaron Young, who paints a picture during the performance, illustrating and augmenting Dionysiou’s narrated tale.

Dionysiou tells the story, weaving with legends of the Greek goddess Aphrodite playing a card game with Ares, the God of War. In between these segments, she narrates the story of her family on the island of Cyprus. The main figure in this story is Dionysiou’s father, George, called “Koko”, portrayed by Dionysiou along with his sisters Eleftheria and Andrula, and his brother Dionysus. Through personal recollections, they tell the story of the family throughout various conflicts involving the continuing conflicts between the Greek (represented by the Dionysious) and Turkish populations of Cyprus. It’s a compelling story, based on Dionysiou’s interviews with her family, and her portrayals of all the characters, particularly the determined Koko and the mischievous Andrula, are convincing and impressive. She also makes excellent use of sound effects for the “card game” sequence as Young impressively recounts the story with his painting, including elements of movement that add to the story and the overall drama. It’s a fascinating story, and another ideal example of the excellence and inventiveness that should be celebrated by Fringe. I’ve been extremely impressed by both of Dionysiou’s shows that she has done here, and I hope to see her at a future Fringe as well.

The How and the Why
by Sarah Treem
Directed by Nancy Bell
New Jewish Theatre
January 25, 2018

Sophia Brown, Amy Loui Photo by Eric Woolsey New Jewish Theatre

The How and the Why, the newest production from the New Jewish Theatre, is a story about relationships, about science, and about women. A one-act, two-woman show, Sarah Treem’s play is a strong showcase for two excellent local performers. It’s also an in-depth look at life through the eyes of two women at different stages of life who are inextricably tied to one another in more ways than one.

As the story begins, award-winning evolutionary biologist Zelda Kahn (Amy Loui) sits in her office, alone, but she’s not alone for long. Soon, young graduate student Rachel Hardeman (Sophia Brown) arrives, and it appears that this may be a student-teacher meeting, but it’s more than that, as is evidenced by the obvious mixture of curiosity and awkwardness upon their initial meeting. Rachel has submitted a paper for presentation at a major conference of which Zelda is on the board, but that’s just the beginning. Through the course of the production, the two women gradually get to know one another, and we the audience learn about them in the process. That’s the basic premise, but a lot of ground is covered here in terms of establishing this relationship and revealing the differences and similarities between these two women at two different stages of their lives and careers. The playwright does a good job of making this situation credible, even though some of the plot may seem implausible. The play covers issues of science, family relationships, love and romance, dependence and independence, personal and professional priorities, goals and compromises, and more. It’s a somewhat sweeping range of subject matter made personal through these two well-drawn characters and their building relationship.

The characters are the story here, in a major sense, so ideal casting is essential. The performers here are both remarkable, not only convincing as individuals but also believably conveying an initially awkward but obviously important, growing relationship as these two women try to figure out how to relate to each other, as well as working out important choices in their own lives. Loui convinces as the older, sometimes wiser but sometimes regretful Zelda, projecting an air of confidence along with a real sense of vulnerability. She is well-matched by Brown, who gives a determined, earnest, occasionally angry and equally vulnerable portrayal of Rachel. This is a compelling story, but it’s made all the more real by the sensitive, strong performances of its leads.

Technically, the show is also impressive. Peter and Margery Spack’s two-sided set represents Zelda’s well-appointed office and then, later, a turntable revolves to reveal an equally detailed dive bar set. The whole set is also surrounded by representations of planets, shimmering and illuminated by Michael Sullivan’s excellent lighting. The costumes by Felia Davenport suit the characters appropriately, as well.

This production is notable in that it’s so focused on women. The playwright, the stars, the director and several of the designers are women, and a major focus of the story is the experience of what it’s like to be a woman in a traditionally male-dominated field, examining issues of science that are particularly centered around women. It’s also about an intriguing, thoroughly believable relationship, and as the title suggests, the “hows” and “whys” of life. It’s a fascinating story, thoughtfully staged at New Jewish Theatre.

Amy Loui, Sophia Brown Photo by Eric Woolsey New Jewish Theatre

The New Jewish Theatre is presenting The How and The Why the Marvin & Harlene Wool Studio Theatre at the JCC’s Staenberg Family Complex until February 11, 2018

The latest Studio production at the Rep, Faceless, couldn’t be more timely if it tried. It’s one of those stories that’s so plausible, it may as well be based on reality, even though it’s a fictional tale. Tackling many issues that are at the forefront of the modern political and social conversation, this play is challenging, affecting, and impeccably cast.

Delving into the worlds of religion, politics, the war on terror, and social media, this story follows the trial of a Chicago teenager, Susie Glenn (Lindsay Stock), who was arrested for conspiring with terrorists after attempting to travel overseas to join an ISIS-involved soldier with whom she has only interacted online, even though she intends to marry him and has converted to Islam under his influence. The story starts with lead prosecutor Scott Bader (Michael James Reed) recruiting Harvard-educated attorney Claire Fathi (Susaan Jamshidi), the American-born Muslim daughter of French and Iranian immigrants, to assist him on the case. It’s a high profile case, and Claire knows exactly why the politically aspirational Scott wants her there, and after some resistance she agrees to join the team. Defending Susie is Mark Arenberg (Ross Lehman), with an excellent reputation who is brought in by her widowed father Alan (Joe Dempsey). The structure is semi-linear, in that the story generally moves forward, but there are also frequent flashback sequences showing how Susie, whose police officer mother was killed in the line of duty about a year previously, came to be involved with “Reza” online, showing texts and tweets projected on a screen, as “Reza” remains shrouded in mystery–a shadowy figure whose face we never see, and whose voice is given a ghostly echoing quality. The story explores the development of the case from various sides, the preparation of the legal teams as well as the personal stories of Susie and Claire, gradually narrowing focus to the developing relationship between these two characters, as Claire learns about Susie through the case, initially dismissing her as “Muslim Barbie”. As the trial continues, Clarie is forced to look more closely at Susie, and what has brought her to this point, as well as confronting issues in her own personal life and family relationships. The play covers many issues in addition to the main idea, from exploration of some aspects of online culture, to teenage alienation, to press sensationalism, to religious differences between the two Muslim characters, Mark who is Jewish, Alan who is an atheist, and Scott whose background is left more nebulous but who isn’t above using Claire’s religious background as an angle to get publicity for the case. There’s also an insightful exploraton of grief and father-daughter relationships. There are a lot of issues here, from the obvious to the less apparent, and the nuanced script is incisive, thought-provoking, and challenging. Many questions are raised, but not all of them are answered, and that lends an extra air of authenticity to the production.

The characters here are complex and richly drawn, and extremely well-cast. Everyone is excellent, with the focus being largely on Jamshidi’s confident, vulnerable portrayal of Claire and Stock’s alternately defiant, grieving, lonely, and impressionable Susie. There are also strong moments for Dempsey as Susie’s also grieving father, the always strong Reed as the somewhat cocky Scott, and Lehman as the thorough, thoughtful Mark. The trial preparations and the courtroom scenes themselves can be riveting and dramatic, but there are also some quietly chilling moments as Susie’s backstory plays out. The excellent set by John Culbert, the evocative lighting by Heather Gilbert and sound by Andre Pluess, and the superb projections designed by Stephan Mazurek, showing Susie’s texts and tweets and texts to her shadowy “fiance”, add to the chilling drama. This is a show in which the technical aspects augment the performances in a critical way to help convey the overall feeling of the story.

The play is supsenseful, timely, smartly paced and impressively staged by director BJ Jones and the cast. This isn’t a very long play, but a lot goes on in its approximately 90 minute running time. It’s not a true story, but the way it’s portrayed here, it’s easy to see how this could happen. There’s a lot to think about here in terms of politics, religion, family relationships, and more. It may be called Faceless, but a major part of this play’s effectiveness is the fact that it gives these issues a face. It personalizes issues that can easily be thought of in the abstract. Here, the drama is real, it’s intense, and it’s well worth seeing.

West End Players Guild is starting their 2017-2018 season with Lee Blessing’s 1988 A Walk In The Woods, a celebrated Pulitzer Prize nominee that’s very much of its era when looking at it today. At WEPG, it comes across as an earnest, if subdued, look at a particular time and place in world history.

Probably the most striking thing about this particular production is its set, designed by Jacob Winslow, who also designed the excellent lighting. Here, the basement of Union Avenue Christian Church has been transformed into a wooded area somewhere in Geneva, Switzerland, with real mulch, logs, leaves and branches spread around to achieve an authentic effect. A simple wooden bench is the only furniture, and the audience is seated in sections surrounding the performance area on three sides. It’s an effective staging conceit, basically bringing the audience into the woods with the play’s characters, who are two arms negotiators. The Soviet Andrey Bottnvinnik (Tom Moore) is older, avuncular, personable but wearied by years in this job. The American John Honeyman (Tim Naegelin) is new on the job, and he’s more of the by-the-book kind of guy, but also full of idealism and hope that a real agreement on nuclear arms reduction can be achieved. Over the course of the play, the two talk and develop a relationship, and that is essentially the story. The personalities of the characters, and their back-and-forth discussion on matters as serious as world peace and as seemingly mundane as country music, are the centerpiece to this story which seems to depend a lot on archetypes as much as specific characters, although those archetypes are examined and challenged as well. At first it appears that we’re seeing the “older, wiser vs. the young upstart” but over the course of the show we see that there’s more to these characters than the initial impressions.

Although this play was timely when it was first written, now it plays as a Cold War time capsule of sorts, although it still has its moments of relevance to today’s issues, and the general idea of diplomacy as a difficult but essential pursuit. Blessing’s script is insightful at times, but it’s also deliberate sometimes to the point of being a little too deliberate. This strikes me as the type of play that particularly benefits from strong casting. All plays benefit from good performances, but here that seems most essential. The performances here are strong, although not as dynamic as they possibly could be. Moore is particularly engaging as the charming but deceptively cynical Bottvinnik. His Russian accent is convincing, as well. Naegelin as Honeyman is also convincing, and both actors display convincing chemistry as their relationship builds and grows throughout the play.

For the most part, A Walk In the Woods is a compelling character study and a window into a time in world history that is still in living memory for many in the audience. Its look at the process of diplomacy and the struggle for communication in the midst of cynicism is one that is still relevant today, as well. It’s an intriguing opening for WEPG’s season.

The 2017 St. Lou Fringe Festival is over now, and the biggest regret I have regarding it is that I didn’t see more shows. It’s a great festival celebrating all kinds of performing arts, especially theatre in the more “edgy” or experimental vein. The four shows I saw this year reflected the Fringe’s attitude in different ways. From complex experimental pieces, to outrageous comedy, to challenging drama, the best of what theatre can be is there at the Fringe.

I missed last year’s Festival, so it’s been a little while since I was able to soak up the Fringe atmosphere, and a few things have changed since the last time I attended the festival. Generally, the festival seems more streamlined and polished. Gone are Fringe badges and playing cards for tickets, and the area of the festival isn’t as spread out as it used to be, focusing more on a few blocks of Grand Boulevard in Grand Center. Also, the newly renovated Grandel Theatre makes an ideal venue for the festival’s headline shows. It’s still the Fringe with all its quirkiness and variety, but it’s also showing signs of having matured somewhat. The Festival is even more cementing itself as a fixture in the St. Louis performing arts scene.

This year’s local headline act was this new production from the innovative ERA and its fearless leader, director and adaptor Lucy Cashion, who has given audiences a Snow White like they have never seen before. Like ERA’s versions of Shakespeare and other classical works, this isn’t a straightforward telling of the story. In fact, its non-linear nature is highlighted in an “instruction sheet” handed to audience members before the show. There’s a lot going on here, with various versions of the fairy tale being mixed with pop culture influences, cultural criticism, philosophy, and psychology, exploring issues of identity, sexuality, race, authority, and more. There are a lot of concepts thrown together here, and it can be a challenge to sort through everything, but it’s definitely a worthwhile and fascinating exercise. It’s one of those shows that I really wish I could see more than once.

There are some echoes of the Disney Snow Whitehere, but there’s a lot more as well, and the characters are here but they’re different. Here, the story is narrated by Snow White’s imperious, German-accented biological mother (a terrific Katy Keating), and acted out on a simple, abstract set designed by Cashion and comprised mostly of various movable pieces of furniture and surmounted by a giant video screen. The use of music and video, composed and designed by Joe Taylor, is impressive and clever, with the magic mirror becoming a unique character called Hogo DeBergerac, voiced by Randy Brachman but being “spoken” through the mouths of the characters themselves on the giant video screen. The characters take turns addressing the mirror, and Jane (Maggie Conroy), the haughty “Wicked Stepmother” figure, is obsessed with it, and also to a different degree with Snow White (Julia Crump). Here, Snow White is a pampered and somewhat bossy princess who lives with seven men—Bill (Mitch Eagles), Clem (Alex Fyles), Edward (Anthony Kramer), Henry (Carl Overly, Jr.), Kevin (Reginald Pierre), Hubert (Gabe Taylor), and Dan (Pete Winfrey). The men, outfitted in coveralls with name tags, have their own issues to sort out, not just in relation to Snow White but toward one another and within themselves. There’s also Paul (Will Bonfiglio), the prince figure, who likes to take baths with his typewriter, blows bubbles, joins a monastery for a time, and undertakes his own personal quest for purpose, that may or may not involve Snow White in some way or another. If there’s a lot of vague language here, that’s fitting, because this is a play about concepts as much as it is about characters. There are some striking visual moments, aided by Cashion’s striking design and Marcy Wiegert’s stylish, whimsical costumes, as well as by Taylor’s music. There are moments of bursting into song, as well.

If this sounds odd, it’s because it is. It’s ERA, and nothing is conventional. The casting is excellent across the board, with excellent moments for all of the characters, and there are a lot of ideas even if the story isn’t always exactly coherent. I hope ERA stages this again elsewhere, because I would like to see it again. It’s new, it’s old, it’s different, and it challenges conventional thinking about a well-known story and characters. In short, it’s what Cashion and ERA do best.

On the Exhale

by Martin Zimmerman

Directed by Seth Gordon and Starring Elizabeth Ann Townsend

This short one-woman show is intense, poignant, and an excellent showcase for its star, Elizabeth Ann Townsend. It only runs about an hour, but there’s a lot of drama in that hour, told from the point of view of an unnamed English professor and single mother whose conception of life and the world around her is shaken by a school shooting. It’s a highly personal account even though the character isn’t given a name, and the echoes of the Sandy Hook tragedy are unmistakable. Told in a first-person narrative style, the structure of the play makes the character’s journey immediate and personal, as Townsend explores issues of family, grief, fear, and the problematic politics of guns. It’s a tour-de-force performance by Townsend as a woman whose journey of grief takes her in places she never thought she would go. This was a simply riveting production.

Liberals vs. Zombies vs. Conservatives

Written and performed by Dan Viggers, starring Sarah Porter, Matt Pentecost and Zak Farmer

This is a timely, satirical musical taking prominent issues from the day and combining them with music and zombies. I guess a zombie apocalypse is as good a premise as any to bring disparate characters together and force them to work out their conflicts. Here, composer and writer Viggers has crafted a simple, goofy story full of jokes and caricatures that has some tuneful songs and provides a lot of laughs. With jokes about everything from man buns to Fox News and more, it tells the story of two liberals, Lena (Porter) and Oliver (Pentecost), who are fleeing from the zombies and come across the homestead of a conservative, Trump-supporting loner, Ted (Farmer). Forced to confront their differences and figure out what to do about the crisis situation, the three end up learning more about one another than they had wished. All three performers give good performances, with great voices and comic timing, and most of the jokes are funny, although the twist ending is somewhat abrupt and the final “message” is a little simplistic. Still, it’s an entertaining show, and a good example of the kind of variety that Fringe has to offer.

Dead Gothics Society

produced by Alicen Moser

This show is just a whole lot of fun, especially for anyone with an interest in literature. Producer Alicen Moser, who also acts in the production, has brought together a team of performers and crew (including Jimmy Bernatowicz, Andre Estamian, Katie Schoenfeld, Hannah Grimm, Tori Thomas, Ryan Lawson-Maeske, and Ben Lewis) to play an intriguing game. Hosted by Satan in Purgatory, a collection of dead writers and poets including Lord Byron, Mary Shelley, Edgar Allen Poe, and others take turns acting out stories they’ve written that range from the simply bizarre to the downright creepy, with a lot of humor thrown in for good measure. The audience then votes on their two favorites, who then go head-to-head in a trivia contest with the winner receiving a ticket to go straight to Heaven, and the loser getting a ticket to Hell. It’s a smart, clever, funny, and irreverent production that’s a whole lot of fun to watch and participate in as an audience member. There are some fun running jokes and some great performances by all, with Lawson-Maeske as probably the MVP for his memorable turns as Byron and the Marquis de Sade. This is another excellent example of the kinds of shows a festival like Fringe showcases so well.

Overall, my Fringe 2017 experience was enlightening, energizing, and entertaining. I enjoyed the shows I saw this year, and I look forward to seeing more of what the Fringe brings next year.